Lions, Tigers and Brews, OH MY!

New Yorkers are able to bring out their wild side and inner animal at an upcoming craft beer festival at the zoo! Taking place June 19th and 20th, Central Park Zoo is opening their doors to guests to enjoy unlimited craft beer from 8-11 PM (or 7 PM if you buy VIP) with upcoming event Lions, Tigers and Brews. Combining some of our favorite outdoor activities (drinking and entertainment), the event will be the perfect summer pastime.

Bringing the event to the NYC market for the first year, we wanted to talk to founder Kate Levenstien to learn more about what to look forward to and how the idea came about!

Q: How did you first come up with the concept Lions, Tigers and Brews?

A: I was living in Chicago right near Lincoln Park Zoo and thought of how great it would be to explore the zoo at night. I love drinking craft beer with friends in unique environments – and what’s better than a zoo?!

Q: Why the focus on brews instead of food in general?

A: The focus on craft beer is really because it’s inside of the zoo. I thought a big food-focused event with different smells and flavors while you’re surrounded by animals might be a little overwhelming, because they create their own smells and flavors (pee-yew).

Q: What do you think this event brings to the new craft beer market?

A: It gives them a new place to pour their product and get it into new hands who have never tried it before. This is the first time any of the NY Zoos have hosted an event like this, and we’d like to bring it to all of the boroughs!

Q: When did the event first begin?

A: Our first event was last year, September 2014, in Chicago.

Q: How do you decide which breweries can participate?

A: We work with a number of distributors and self-distributing breweries to make sure we have a broad representation. We work with the “brewmasters” to select the styles that will be poured based on the season, what other styles are confirmed and their product inventory.

Q: What do you find is the most rewarding aspect of the event?

A: We love to watch people try new things whether it’s exploring a new venue (the zoo) or trying new brews…seeing people have fun, escape their routine and explore is what we enjoy most about producing these events!

Q: What do people like the most?

A: I think people enjoy the X factors we incorporate. This year we’ll have a costume contest, pretzel necklace making booth, face painting, a photo booth with tons of props, a DJ and a roaming brass band to keep people dancing!

Q: What aspect of Lions, Tigers and Brews are you most excited for?

We have some surprise guests that will be running around – I can’t wait to see guests’ reactions!

Q: What eats are you expecting to participate?

A: Tres Carnes, Luke’s Lobster, Manila Social Club, Wafles & Dinges

This promises to be one amazing and different event. For those of you who are lovers of animals, beer, music and good times, get your tickets while you still can!

Deets:

Tickets are available for Friday and Saturday on Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/lions-tigers-and-brews-craft-beer-festival-tickets-16321658520